Elven Wings
by Alsius and Artemis
Summary: In a small island called Enca, which is located far southeast of Fiore there is a small mages Guild, Elven Wings. A completely original story in the world of Fairy Tail.
1. Ch 1 Incendiare

Elven Wings: Incendiare

This Island is called Enca, a tropical island filled with nature. This is the world of magic. Though everyone has the potential to use this extraordinary power, only the few with strong wills are able to utilize it. This story is about one city which holds a certain mages guild. Though their world is small, this story is about their great adventures to practice their magic. This guild is called Elven Wings.

"Hey, how about this job?' a short dark navy haired tomboy pointed at the request board. She wore a sleeveless dark blue top with a thin silver armour plate which covered her chest, baggie pants and black fingerless gloves. A blue feather dangled from the round light blue hat she wore. A butterfly like green guild mark shone above her left elbow. A black, white bellied cat sat on her shoulder. The cat was covered with strange blue markings and had two tails.

Beyond her a blond haired girl sat laid back as she sipped her drink. Her hair was tied neatly in a braid which hung over her right shoulder and she wore a white cloak which went over only on her left shoulder. Almost hidden by the quiver she rarely took off was her identical mark, placed delicately on her right shoulder blade. A reddish orange cat sat next to her. It wore a hoodie that had cat-like ears stitched on it.

The blond girl peered over at the paper posted on the board and frowned, "No way, that's no good, Alsius" she surveyed the board, and then smiled as she took a different job, "this one."

Alsius looked it over, "Retrieve my stolen horse at Zegola... Artemis, are you sure you want this job?"

"Get ready," Artemis replied as she started walking towards the door. "Legolas and I will go ahead." The orange cat followed Artemis.

Alsius sighed and walked over to the counter located next to the request board. On top sat a very young looking man. He had long black hair which, besides his bangs, was tied back in a pony. He held a pipe which blew bubbles out. "Master, Artemis and I are going to take this job."Jobs can't be taken without the approval of the guild's master, which was that man.

The young master looked over the quest, but shook his head, "Sorry, but I don't think just the two of you is enough..."

Alsius slammed her hand on the counter, furious, "Do you not trust our abilities, master? We even have Gilbert."

The cat on Alsius' shoulder nodded. "Even Legolas is coming. So, what about the job makes you not want us to take it, Master Jadez?" it asked politely.

"Zegola is the home to bandits and their chief was a former knight mage. It's no easy task to retrieve a living animal from them, let alone defeat them."

Suddenly an arm went around Alsius' shoulder from behind, "How about I tag along, master. I believe fighting a real mage would be a good experience for them. We mages all must fight one someday you know."

Master Jadez stared thoughtfully at the owner of the arm as Alsius pushed it off her, "experience you say, Reize."

Reize nodded. He had wavy silver hair and his right eye was covered with an eye patch. Even though Sin was a warm tropical country, Reize always wore a black scarf around his neck. His grin revealed sharp fang-like teeth. "Artemis already left; I don't think we could convince her not to go.

The master blew some bubbles from his pipe, "As long as you don't ruin Elven Wings' reputation." He sighed.

Alsius smiled and did a thankful bow, before she took off to pursue Artemis. Gilbert and Reize followed close behind.

"Come back safely..." Master Jadez whispered as he watched his companions leave.

"Hey Alsius," Artemis turned around frowning as they walked towards their destination, Zegola, "I don't want to be rude or anything, but why is he coming along."

"Master wouldn't allow us to take the job otherwise."

Artemis gave an annoyed glance at Reize; however he just pretended not to notice. Alsius worried whether or not the quest would go well. Gilbert seemed to notice this and affectionately rubbed his head against her knees.

"Don't worry Als," he purred, "We've grown stronger since then."

"Thanks," Alsius smiled as she patted Gilbert's smooth furry head.

"Hey," Reize suddenly hollered from behind, "What magic do you guys use? It's useful to know beforehand, so we can plan for our teamwork."

Gilbert and Legolas immediately sprouted magical angelic wings and flew freely above, "We can use Aera, flight magic," they mewed in unison.

Alsius exchanged glances with Artemis and smiled. Alsius stopped and turned to face Reize. Reize kept walking, very puzzled. All of a sudden, he found himself collide into an invisible wall which shined blue when contacted, revealing a spherical shape which surrounded Alsius.

"Ow..." he groaned rubbing his sore face.

"Barrier Magic," Alsius replied." I can create spheres like these which protect me or my allies and..." a small Frisbee-like shape conjured a top Alsius' palm. She flicked it at a nearby boulder which was pierced easily by it. Tiny rock shards fell everywhere.

"By changing their shape, it's simple to make barriers which create openings in or between objects." Alsius grinned, arms on her hips.

"Ha...Ha..." Reize smiled nervously. "You, Artemis?"

Artemis finally stopped walking and grabbed her bow from her back. Without putting an arrow in, she pulled the string back. As she pulled, an arrow-like light materialized. She released the light, making it zoom past Reize's head. After few seconds an explosion was heard behind him.

Then, Artemis formed a ball of light on her palm, "I can use light magic..."

"Are you trying to kill me?" Reize yelled, sweating lots.

Artemis crossed her arms and sighed, "I never miss. If I wanted you dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We showed you our magic, now it's your turn."

Reize stared irritated at the two female mages. He finally bent over to pick up one of the rock shards, which scattered everywhere when Alsius demonstrated her magic, and popped it into his mouth. He chewed it with ease as it made loud crackling sounds.

Alsius and Artemis stare dumbfounded at the silver-haired mage. Alsius also bent down to grab another rock and tries to take a bite out of it.

Reize flinched "Idiot! What are you trying to do!?" he yelled as he grabbed the rock from Alsius' mouth.

"...I thought rocks were eatable and since I never tried it before, I thought I taste it" Alsius said, cocking her head to the side.

Reize slapped his head, "Only Dragon Slayers can eat things of their element. I can eat rocks because I am a Rock Dragon Slayer."

"Oh..." Artemis whispered as she tossed a few stones behind her.

"Maybe Master was right to stop them from taking this quest," Reize mumbled under his breath.

"Everyone quiet," Gilbert whispered pointing his paw forward. A stone tower was seen in the distance with several bandits at the top.

"It's not going to be easy to get past that..." whispered Reize, crouching low out of the enemies view.

Artemis, who was crouched next to Reize, aimed her bow at the general direction of the bandits. "Light Make..." as she pulled the string five arrows of light were created, "Pierce!" she yelled, firing all the arrows each piercing one of the unaware bandits.

Reize's mouth dropped open, "Wait... What!?"

"What are you waiting for?" Alsius sneered, "We have a horse to save."

Gilbert grabbed Alsius' back and flew above the enemy fort.

"We'll look from the top, you guys go from below!" Alsius ordered as Gilbert placed her at the top of the tower where the unconscious bandits laid.

Artemis waved in agreement and ran towards the forts entrance, pulling Reize with her.

"Isn't it too bold to go in through the front?" Reize yelled.

"This is our way, our teams' way!" smiled Artemis.

Alsius opened up a wooden door which was found on the roof of the tower. She and Gilbert jumped down it find themselves in a small dark room. On one side of the wall there was a strange magic circle inscribed on it.

"Hey you,"

Alsius turned to the direction of the voice. A large bald, bearded man lay, slouched on a chair. His left arm was bandaged up. He was drinking beer, and lots of it, but showed no sign of being drunk.

"Are you the bandit chief?" Alsius questioned, readying herself for battle. Gilbert rested himself on Alsius' shoulder.

The bald man lifted himself slowly off the chair when his eyes met Alsius', she felt her body feel heavy.

"Alsius!?" Gilbert yelled, surprised.

"Don't look at his eyes," Alsius gasped, "he uses a type of gravity magic!" Alsius was on her knees now.

The bandit walked up in front of Alsius, sneering as he drank some more beer. "You're pretty good to figure my magic and its limits in matter of seconds. Yes, unless you look into my eyes, this magic is useless."

The man put his foot on top of Alsius' head. All Alsius could do in response was to glare. Gilbert flew up and hit the man on his head a few times; however, his efforts did nothing. The bandit flicked the small black cat away.

Alsius placed her hand beneath the man, "Barrier Magic, Pick!" a small square barrier formed where Alsius' hand was and stretched upwards hitting the bandit chief directly on the chin, which sent him flying off his feet.

At that instant, Alsius' gravity went back to normal, "Shinkuha!" she threw a Frisbee shaped barrier towards the bandit mage but, he was quick to recover and dodged it. Alsius' last attack hardly did any damage.

Grabbing a large hammer from a nearby weapon rack, the bandit chief charged at Alsius.

"The fight is just beginning," Alsius smiled.

"Well, that finishes off the small fry." Artemis stated satisfied with their victory.

Legolas flew next to her, "If they're this weak, they shouldn't call themselves bandits."

"Ha...ha..." Reize laughed nervously. _I wonder why master believed they weren't good enough for this job..._

Artemis started opening every door she saw. Legolas flew around with his magic wings looking for what they came for, the horse. It was nowhere to be seen.

"Artemis, I'm starting to wonder if the horse is even here anymore." Legolas meowed softly.

Reize cleared his throat, "Remember we're against a former knight mage, it is highly possible that the horse is hidden within a magic rune."

The bandit was faster than Alsius expected. He kept swinging his hammer and she could only barely make barriers to lessen the impact of them. It was also difficult to completely predict her opponent's movements without making eye contact.

"Alsius!" Gilbert yelled.

Alsius quickly stepped away from the bandit. She quickly formed something and held it in her right hand. The bandit chief, not noticing this, attempted to hit her, Alsius barely side-stepped the bandit's attack, causing her hat to blow off and swung her arm. The bandit chief was cut in many directions and blood spilled from the wound. When he turned to see what cut him, he saw a katana-like figure in Alsius' hand, dripping with his blood. But more than the bloody sword, the bandit chief was surprised to see Alsius' two furry ears, which were revealed beneath her hat.

Seeing this, the bandit gasped, "You're also from Sin! Every citizen in that cursed country gets experimented on... What is a human experiment like you doing in a guild?"

"That is none of your business," growled Alsius as she watched the bandit mage fall to the ground.

"You okay, Als?" Gilbert asked as he ran up to her. He handed Alsius her hat back.

Alsius took it quietly from the two-tailed cat and put it back on. The blue feather dangled from it, "Not worries. It's a past I'll have to face eventually, just not yet."

"Alsius," Artemis shouted, waving her hand. Legolas and Reize followed close behind.

"Is he the bandit chief?" Reize exclaimed jumping at the sight of the unconscious man. But, before he got an answer Reize's attention when to the magic circle drawn on the wall.

"Is this where the horse is hidden?" Artemis asked.

Most likely, let me try to get it open," said Reize as he placed both his hands on the wall. After examining the strange markings, Reize walked over the knocked bandit chief and found a strange amulet on him. When Reize showed the amulet to the wall, its markings shone brightly and revealed a path.

Without saying a word, the three mages and two cats walked through the dark hall. Artemis used her light magic to see so she walked at the front. Not after long, a flame-like light shone in the distance. Artemis immediately rushed towards it.

The source of the light was a dark midnight horse. The tips of its black mane were small fireballs which glowed brightly in the dark room. Its eyes were bright red. Artemis stared in amazement at its beauty.

Reize gasped, "What kind of horse is this?"

"She's a horse from the country Sin."

Reize turned to see the bandit chief leaned against the wall and readied himself for battle, however Alsius stopped him. So instead, Reize questioned him, "What do you mean?"

The bandit chief's eyes were full of sorrow, "She is one of the millions of victims; everyone in Sin is forcefully experimented on, humans and animals.

The man unraveled his bandages on his left arm, "My name is Kord, I was also experimented..." his arm was scaly like a lizard's. It twitched uncontrollably. "Only I was a failure."

Alsius bit her lip at the sight of the inhuman arm.

"I couldn't agree to the rules of that country, so I escaped throwing away my magic knight title, taking her with me." Kord explained, "I know you came for her, you can take her, but please not to the quest giver. She's not meant to be some rich fool's trophy."

Artemis smiled, "I never intended to give her to our quest giver."

Reize and Kord looked confused, but Alsius and the winged cats all nodded in agreement.

"I wanted her to be my horse ever since I laid my eyes on the quest," Artemis placed her hand on the horse's nose, "Her name is Incendiare, Incendiare of Elven Wings."

Incendiare neighed happily in response.

Reize gasped, "Wait, you're forfeiting the quest? That's insane, we don't even know if that bandit is telling the truth. I've never heard of experimentations in Sin."

Legolas flew into Artemis' arms and she hugged the small orange cat tightly, "I know it's happening; I know it's true." Sadness clouded the blond mage's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Reize questioned. "You talk as if you've been there before."

Tears dropped down Legolas' face as he snivelled silently in Artemis' arms.

Reize shock his head in disbelief. "I don't see a good enough reason to forfeit this quest, so I won't agree to you!"

Alsius placed her hand on the confused, irritated silver haired mage's shoulder, "The right path isn't always completing our given quest. We have the freedom to choose our own paths and I plan to use that right, even if that choice doesn't seem to be right at first."

Reize couldn't understand fully and wanted to ask more questions but, when he saw their faces, he couldn't bring himself to. So without saying anything else, the mages of Elven Wings returned to their guild. Without explaining the situation, Master Jadez let them forfeit the quest and Incendiare became a member of their guild.

A few days later...

"Alsius, let's go on a quest." Gilbert pleaded holding a request paper.

Alsius peered over and read it. Her face brightened up quickly, "Artemis, Legolas... Reize!"

Reize was surprised to hear his name called.

"Time for a quest?" Legolas mewed hopefully.

"We're taking Incendiare too!" Artemis pointed out and Incendiare snorted in agreement.

"Wait," Reize stammered. "Me, too?"

Alsius and Artemis exchanged glances and smiled.

"Of course you're coming" Alsius started.

"You're part of our team now," Artemis laughed.

Reize's eyes were wide with amazement. He cracked open a smile. There were many things he didn't know about these two, that Reize was determined to know. But most of all, it made him happy that they wanted him to join them. "Okay, let's go."

"Elven Wings' adventure is just beginning."

To be continued...


	2. Ch 2 Call of the Forest

Ch. 2 Call of the Forest

It was another sunny day in the tropical paths of Enca. A beautiful fiery midnight horse walked along the path, pulling a carriage as its dark mane shone in the sunlight. Alsius sat on top of a carriage's roof, feeling the breeze blow in her face. She wore a green long-sleeved robe-like shirt which was open on her shoulders, puffy pants with boot like shoes, her classic round hat with the blue feather dangling from its sides and her black fingerless gloves. Gilbert, her black, talking, two-tailed flying cat napped peacefully on her lap as she was reading their quest's objectives.

"Rid the tree that engulfed our village?" Artemis repeated from inside the carriage. She sat on a bench waxing the string of her bow Moongleam, her long, blond braid hanging delicately over her shoulder, her quiver sitting on the seat next to her. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the low light of the carriage.

Legolas, Artemis' hooded orange cat companion sat with a questioned look on his face, "That's our quest today?" he squeaked.

"There's no other detail besides the fact it's at Donalf.

"Hey, what do you think, Rei..." Artemis stopped mid-sentence.

The silver mage was holding his hand over his mouth and was very pale. He wore a dark vest over a white tank top and simple brown shorts. Sweat dripped down his face. "I-I'm never going on carriages again..." he gasped as he made gagging sounds.

Alsius laughed, "If you believe that you're okay on transportation, the sickness will just disappear. Don't they say, 'Sickness is a state of mind'"?

After a slight pause Reize huffed, "Ugrh... it's not working."

Alsius sighed, "You have no imagination..."

"I don't think that's the problem." Artemis commented.

Legolas peered out of the carriage and gasped in amazement, "Look, I think that's the village."

In the distance a large tree was seen. Its roots wrapped itself around the houses of a small village. The great tree's leaves let little light shine below it.

Gilbert woke up and wagged his tails at the sight, "It's so pretty! I bet that tree would make a great scratch post." He purred.

"I think it will make a better target." Artemis argued.

"Our job is to get rid of that tree you know." Alsius pointed out.

"Then we go with my idea. Why did we choose this job anyways?" Artemis suddenly asked as she poked her head out of the carriage to look at Alsius.

Alsius handed the request paper to Artemis and told her to look at the reward. "Animal Charm" Artemis read, 'What's that?"

"It's a holder type magic meant for animals. It gives them the ability to communicate with human words." Gilbert purred. "I thought we could give it to Incendiare."

The fiery midnight horse neighed happily when she heard her name.

When the mages approached the village an old man welcomed them immediately. He held a wooden cane and was slightly slouched. "I am Kriss, chief of this village. I guess you're wondering what actually happened to this village..."

"That would help." Alsius nodded.

"Hrm..." the old man cleared his throat and paused as if he were gathering what words to say "I actually don't know."

"Huh!?" Gilbert meowed angrily, "You're not saying that a tree this big grew suddenly overnight?"

The old man nodded slowly, "It happened just a few days ago. We woke up like any other day to work on the fields and noticed how dark the sky was and saw the tree. When we tried to dig up a root the tree retaliated, as if it had a will of its own, and many of the village's men were injured."

"Hmm..." Alsius mumbled placing her hand on a nearby root

_Help me..._ Alsius quickly jolted away from the root, "Hey, did anyone else hear something?"

"No," Artemis answered.

Alsius cautiously put her hand on the same root and the voice was heard again.

"Artemis, come here and put your hand on this root."

Artemis obediently placed her hand where Alsius instructed her to. "And?" she questioned, slightly annoyed.

"Can't you hear anything?" Alsius asked, but Artemis shook her head.

"I can't hear anything either..." Gilbert meowed.

"What did you hear?" Legolas jumped in and asked.

Alsius scratched her head, "Must've been my imagination."

"Too good of an imagination is bad as well," laughed a half-dead Reize. Alsius stomped on him in remark.

"Well, I'll leave it to you mages," coughed the chief as he wobbled away.

"Guess we should start looking at the trunk of the tree," suggested Artemis. She nodded at Legolas as he sprouted wings of magic and grabbed Artemis' back. They flew up towards the center of the tree leaving Alsius, Gilbert and Reize behind. "I'll go ahead, meet you there!"

However, while still in the air, a giant root shot up from the ground and smacked Artemis and Legolas down onto the ground away from the rest of the team.

"Artemis!" gasped Alsius

Gilbert immediately materialized his wings to help his falling comrades. As he flew the roots tried to hit him as well, but Alsius created barriers to protect Gilbert from the roots' hard blows. Gilbert grabbed both Artemis and the unconscious Legolas.

"M...my magic can't hold more than 1 person..." grunted Gilbert as they slowly dropped down away from Alsius and Reize.

"This is bad; I can't create barriers in places I can't see."

Reize placed his hand on Alsius' shoulder, "They're mages of Elven Wings, they'll be alright. We better head towards the tree in the mean time. They probably would do the same."

"Yeah..." smiled Alsius, but suddenly turned around and created a protective shield around herself and Reize. A few daggers got deflected, then Alsius let the barriers down and Reize quickly charged towards the directions the daggers flew from.

Reize's arms got enveloped by claw shaped rocks, "Rock Dragon's Iron Fist!" he punched a human-like figure in the distance only to find himself face to face with a large violet scaled snake.

Reize quickly jumped back in surprise sniffing the air. Dragon slayers have an exceptionally good sense of smell. "Strange, I'm pretty sure I smell a women's scent around, one that uses lots of expensive perfume."

"Oh, do we have a dragon slayer here?" a high pitched voice laughed from above. A slightly tall, slender large breasted lady sat up on a root. She tied her long silky blond hair up in a bun. She glanced towards Alsius and gasped gleefully, "Oh, it's you 1027. How long has it been? 10 years? I am I ever glad to see you."

"You know her, Alsius?" whispered Reize and noticed her dripping with sweat as she shivered in fear. "Alsius?"

The lady jumped down from the tree chuckling. The purple snake coiled itself around the lady's body as it flicked its tongue at Reize. "My name is Lorielle Asmodeus, in case you were wondering; I am one of the knights of Sin."

"Sin?" gasped Reize.

"Don't worry, we're not after you... today. One of our newer experiments escaped and went berserk. We came to retrieve it, so adios."

Lorielle jumped up onto the roots and disappeared.

"Are you okay, Alsius?" Reize asked.

Alsius was still slightly shaky, but managed to nod, "I...I'm alright."

"Ouch..." Artemis dusted herself off grunting. Gilbert and Legolas lay near her unconscious. Artemis gently picked both of them up and scanned the area around her. The large tree's roots and vines surrounded her and the only opening was found above.

"No exit, I'll just make one." Artemis carried the two cats in one arm as she created a ball of light in the palm of the other. She then threw the energy ball at the roots which caused it to explode and create a small hole.

"No, no that's no good..." an evil teasing-like voice whispered from above.

Artemis saw a long-haired young man sitting on a flying carpet. He wore feminine-like robes and seemed to wear many bracelets, necklaces and rings.

The man chuckled some more, "You must be Artemis Fairleaf. I'm Cavius Mammon by the way, my, my don't glare at me like that; it ruins your pretty face. Don't worry, I'm not after you...yet"

"You talk too much," Artemis tried to smile calmly, but her legs trembled, "I'm telling you now, I have no intention in going back to Sin!"

Cavius frowned but still kept his creepy smile, "I told you, we're not after you, well not now I guess, perhaps some other time we might be after you then... hmm... it wouldn't make a difference if we dragged you back now, but we have our priorities... should I attempt now, or later..." Cavius kept mumbling to himself.

Artemis quietly slipped away while the talkative mage was distracted. _He said 'we' there must be at least one more other person here too._

"I have to quickly get back to Alsius and Reize," she whispered as she ran in the direction of the great tree.

The tree looked much bigger up close. Alsius and Reize stared in awe at the magnificent sight of it.

"Well, what do we do now?" Reize laughed.

Alsius just sighed sat up against the tree's trunk.

_Help, please help me..._

Alsius jolted away from the tree, "It's that voice again..." she whispered, "Every time I touch the tree." Alsius cautiously placed her hand against the tree's trunk, "...who are you?"

After a slight pause the soft high-pitched voice replied, _I'm Terra, that's the name my friend called me by._

"Hey, whose voice is that," Reize asked as he rubbed his head, "Is this, telepathy?"

"You can hear it too now?" Alsius exclaimed.

_My body is located inside this tree so my powers are strongest. I was only able to communicate with you from further distances because you, Alsius, have the blood of a guardian like me._ The voice rang in Alsius and Reize's head.

"Inside?" Alsius repeated as she circled the tree until she found a small opening in the trunk. She and Reize slowly crept inside it. Vines dangled from the ceiling of the tunnel and the floor was covered in moss. The tunnel was lit by small blue glowing leaves of the vines.

Soon the tunnel widened to a cavern. In the center the vines wrapped itself above and below something. As the two mages got closer they saw a small girl within the vines. She wore a simple mini dress and her long green hair went down to her knees. Pink flowers were placed delicately on top of her head. When she opened her eyes they were two different colours, one scarlet red and the other lime green.

"Help..." the girl whimpered as a tear fell from her chin.

Alsius quickly cut the vines which enveloped the girl and gently carried her out of the tree. When they reached the outside of the tree, they saw Artemis waiting nearby. When Artemis saw the little child, she was really surprised.

"Maybe this is who that loud guy was after," said Artemis.

"Who?" Reize asked and Artemis explained to them about the mage on the flying carpet.

Alsius bit her lips, but didn't say anything.

"We saw a mage with a snake," Reize said, "Do you think the two are together?'

"Yes, yes we are together"

Artemis jumped and readied her bow out of instinct. The three mages looked up and saw a flying carpet over top. Cavius and Lorielle sat on it. Alsius froze with fear at the sight of the two. The two mages both jumped off of the carpet.

"Hand over 2967," Lorielle smiled as her snake slithered around her.

Artemis snorted, her bow pointed at the intruders, "Why would we give her to you? We don't even know if we can trust you."

"Don't you know? I guess you don't. This giant tree was that girl's doing, she's an experiment you see. She has the blood of the Guardian of the East, Seiryu, which enable her to grow trees and plants." Cavius laughed, "She is an important part of our plans; our plan to..."

"Shut up, Cavius" Lorielle snapped. "Hand her over, nicely or else..."

Reize stood in front of the girls, "Or else what?"

Lorielle pointed all her fingers at them and her fingernails grew. It wrapped around Artemis and Reize completely stopped their movements. An electric charge ran through the rope-like nails shocking the two enwrapped mages.

"Stop!" Alsius screamed. But Lorielle just sneered back.

Suddenly Gilbert flew down and started kicking and scratching the woman. Surprised Lorielle's nails shrank back to their normal length and released Artemis and Reize.

"What a foolish cat, hmm" Cavius smiled but his eyes didn't. He grabbed Gilbert by his scruff and started beating on him.

Alsius stared horrified. "No... Gilbert..."

"Als..."

The ground started to tremble as a large amount of magic started pouring out of Alsius. The magic enveloped her changing her shape.

"Shit, another berserk!" cursed Cavius as he threw Gilbert off to the side.

"What's going on...?" Artemis and Reize gasped struggling to stand.

The magic released, however Alsius was not there anymore and instead a large dark blue beast-like dragon was.

To be continued...


	3. Ch 3 Queen of Dragons

Ch. 3 Queen of Dragons

The dragon's roar made the earth tremble. It spread its magnificent feathery wings and took flight creating dust storms beneath it. Its body seemed to be covered in fur rather than scales. Two fluffy, pointed ears were seen in front of two horns which curved inwards.

"No... Als..." Gilbert groaned. He was bruised all over his body from being beaten up by Cavius. Gilbert tried to stand, but his paws kept shaking preventing him from supporting himself.

"Lorielle, it seems we have to change plans, yes. Letting this beast loose would ruin our mission." Cavius yelled as he jumped on his flying carpet. Lorielle quickly followed him on.

As the two enemy mages flew up towards the rampaging dragon, Artemis loaded an arrow in her bow. Pulling back she released the arrow, piercing Cavius in the left shoulder.

Slowly, the carpet started falling. It seemed to be flying with Cavius' magic and the arrow Artemis shot drained it. As Cavius and Lorielle fell, Reize inhaled deeply, puffing his cheeks, "Rock Dragon's... ROAR!" he breathed out a tornado like breath-attack which impaled the two mages with many small pebbles.

"Uhh... not good at all, no good at all..." Cavius mumbled, scratching his head in pain. He yanked the arrow out of his back shoulder. "Don't think we'll leave just like that!" he spat.

Artemis attempted to grab another arrow from her quiver; however, Lorielle wrapped her nails around Artemis' wrist, immobilizing it. An electrical charge ran along the rope-like nails shocking Artemis.

"Don't forget about me, lady!" Reize smiled from behind Lorielle, "Just thought up of a new technique." Reize slammed both of his hands under the ground. At first it seemed that nothing occurred. Then from the ground beneath Lorielle, many stone bullets shot out, causing her to release Artemis.

"Ugrh, he ran his magic through the ground..." Lorielle gasped

"You're the one who forgot about someone, yes. Good for me; very good for me." Cavius crept behind Reize.

"No, I don't need to worry about you."

"Kitty Headbutt!" Before Cavius could hit a blow on Reize, Legolas tackled him on the back. The momentum of the flying cat's attack pushed Cavius into Lorielle.

"I have comrades I can rely on now," large stones circled around Reize's arms as he ran towards the two enemy mages. "Rock Dragon's..." Each arm smacked one of the mages and Reize spun them around and threw them in the air, "Wing Hurricane!"

"Yay..." Legolas cheered wobbling side to side; His head butt hurt himself as well. Before he fell, Artemis caught him and picked him up.

"Now we have to help Alsius..." she whispered.

High in the air, the blue reptile circled as it blew breaths of fire-like substances from its mouth. Its roars continued to cause the earth to shake. Leaves and twigs fell from the great tree as the dragon blindly flew into its branches.

"Hey, are you sure that's Alsius?" Reize laughs nervously.

"I'm not so sure myself."

"The dragon is Alsius." Gilbert meowed. Despite being beaten up roughly, he was flying without pain. "It's been 5 years since I have seen her like this. You're probably wondering how she was able to return to her original form, but I don't know either."

"That's helpful..." Artemis snorted.

"Should I try hitting her with my dragon slayer magic? She's a dragon now, right?" Reize smiled, he actually was serious. Artemis quickly disagreed to his "plan".

"Hurry, we got to do something or she'll destroy the tree!" screamed Legolas. Everyone then stared at the little orange cat and gasped.

"Hey, isn't it our quest to destroy this tree?" Reize asked. "It may be slightly barbaric in method, but we get the job done..."

Artemis sighed, "Then what do we do after that? If we don't be careful, Alsius might end up destroying the village as well."

"Leave it to me, mages of Elven Wings..." A young boy about Artemis' age, 17, jumped up the tree. He wore a long black hooded jacket so Artemis couldn't see what he looked like.

He leaped up a branch which was higher than Alsius. When the dragon flew close to the tree, the boy jumped on her and sunk a knife in one of its wings. The beast let out a roar of pain as it tumbled down from a great height.

"What are you doing!?" Artemis screamed.

The boy stay sitting on the dragon even through the fall. The furry beast let out a small whimper as it helplessly lay there. When seeing it up close, it was obvious to see that the dragon wasn't much bigger than the boy.

The boy looked up and Artemis saw his face. He had golden hair which covered his left eye and emerald eyes. Though his height seemed to belong to someone of the age close to Artemis, his face looked too young. The boy took off his hood and a long earring dangled from his right ear.

"Well, are you going to thank me?" he sneered.

Artemis immediately responded with anger, "No, why would we? You just hurt our team mate! She hasn't even returned to her original form."

The boy chuckled in a somewhat evil tone, "What if this was her original form?"

Artemis paused, not knowing what to say and the boy laughed at this. "Don't worry, this isn't." The boy took out a small pellet-like candy, pried open the dragon's mouth and made her swallow it. Slowly, Alsius' extra magic flowed out of her body, which revert her back to her human appearance.

"What did you feed her?" Gilbert gasped pushing the boy off Alsius.

"Just a little medicine to help us gain control of our berserk experiments," he smiled slyly.

Artemis quickly loaded her bow with an arrow and pointed it straight at the golden-haired boy, "Who are you?"

"Whoa, that hurts; you don't remember me, Artemis Fairleaf?"

"What...?" she lowered her bow and in that second the boy kicked it away from her. It flew beyond anyone's reach.

"Just kidding, I'm disappointed in you, getting distracted easily like that." He smiled putting the knife dripping in Alsius' blood at her throat. He gave a warning glance at Reize so he wouldn't try to do anything. But then he sheathed his weapon, "I just came to see how Loreielle and Cavius were doing on their mission. Seems they failed... Take care of that experiment, for now.

"Oh yes, I forgot one more thing..." whispered the boy. He walked up to the trunk of the tree and placed his hand on it. He chanted a few words and his hand started to glow. The tree then started to wither away until nothing was left of it. "There you go, quest complete." He smiled, then, the hooded boy disappeared using a teleportation lacrima.

Artemis fell to her knees breathing heavily. She touched her neck where the weapon was and saw smeared blood on her hand. Legolas flew next to her to comfort her.

"I think Alsius will be okay after a little rest," Reize said, "Though the wound on her back shoulder is really deep, it looks as if it's starting to heal on its own."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly Terra spoke up, "It's because she has the blood of a guardian. Guardians have very fast regeneration abilities."

"When did you get up..." mewed Gilbert.

"We'll ask Mr. Kriss, the chief of the village for a place to rest until Alsius wakes up. You'll need it too, Artemis."

Alsius woke up all bandaged up, and the first thing she saw was Gilbert. Gilbert quickly jumped and hugged her tightly, which hurt her but she didn't say anything after seeing Gilbert's relief. She rubbed her head not remembering anything.

"Oh, look who's up." Reize smiled. "Gilbert was looking after you all day, you know."

"Was I sleeping for that long? What happened?"

Gilbert shook his head, telling Reize not to say anything.

"Well, we cleared the quest somehow. The tree's gone and we're going to take Terra back to our Guild." Reize explained. "She seems to be interested in joining as well."

"She is that's nice," Alsius smiled.

_Good, she seems to remember Terra at least__,_ thought Reize, "When do you think you'll be ready to go?"

Alsius got up and zipped up her robe and put her hat on, "Anytime."

"Good, I'll tell Artemis and the others that." Said Reize and he left ahead.

The mages loaded their belongings on the carriage. Alsius walked up to Incendiare and stroke her mane. "We're counting on you..." she whispered.

"Of course you'll be fine, it's me you're talking about!" Incendiare snorted.

Alsius' jaw dropped in confusion, "wha... did Incendiare just... talk?"

Artemis laughed, "It's the quest reward remember, the holder type magic, Animal Charm. See the jewel on her new bridle? That's it."

"I was able to understand you people without this... it just helps you understand me." Incendiare sighed.

"She's sassier than I expected..." Alsius chuckled. "Were you able to understand her before, Gilbert?"

"Yup, of course."

"Come on, we're leaving!" Terra waved from inside the carriage with Reize. Artemis and Legolas hopped inside the carriage while Alsius and Gilbert went on top. They all waved good bye to the villagers of Donalf and set out back to Virens, the city where their guild, Elven Wings, was.

"What's the date today, Gilbert?" Alsius suddenly asked.

"July 4, X791... oh"

Alsius smiled, "Yeah, it's that time of the year... already five years since we joined huh."

Gilbert nodded.

"I'm thankful that you are hiding the truth from me, but I went berserk again, didn't I." Alsius said. She looked Gilbert in the eye and knew she was right. "Thanks Gilbert."

"I'm sorry, Als..."

The next day...

"Good morning, Reize!" Artemis yawned, Legolas following close behind, "Have you seen Alsius, today?"

"No, I thought she was with you guys."

"She went out early this morning," a short black haired boy replied. He wore a mask over his mouth and nose. "It's that time of year, you know."

"Oh, I forgot." Artemis laughed. "Thanks for reminding me, Yushiro."

Reize looked confused, "What time of year."

"Every year on July 7, Alsius and Gilbert go back home to meet their family. I actually never have been there though." Artemis explained.

"Looks like you'll be able to see it this year, Artemis." Elven Wings' master, Jadez smiled. He held up an envelope and gave it her. "It's a map to the harbour city, Xerxes, and her house there. You, Legolas, Incendiare and Reize are invited, go have fun."

"Yay, beach party!" meowed Legolas.

"Well, it's good to have a break like this once in a while." Reize smiled, "It takes at least two days to get there... we better leave now."

"Yes, let's go, next stop Xerxes."

To be continued...


	4. Ch 4 For the Most Thrilling

Ch. 4: For the Most Thrilling Evening of Your Life

"A haunted inn?" Artemis repeated.

A traveller held his ears for Artemis yelled back at him, "I…it's only a rumour mage, I advise you not to go there."

"But it's the closest route to Xerxes," Legolas mewed.

"Y…yeah, and as long as we don't go inside it, we're fine."

The traveller shuddered, "Apparently, when someone gets close to the inn, they are drawn to it by a mysterious force. Just walking by it is dangerous."

"Whatever, we're on our way," snorted the impatient horse, Incendiare. "We can't have Alsius and the black cat waiting forever." And she started to gallop away.

"Hey! Incendiare, we haven't heard the entire story yet…!" Artemis screamed as the carriage she was in, got pulled further away from the traveller they were talking to.

The sky started to get darker and night came. Incendiare had been walking all day and she was getting tired. Frustrated that her owner, Artemis had not paid any attention to her, she abruptly stopped the carriage. Reize, who was hanging of the side of the carriage, ready to vomit, flew out from the force.

Artemis wiped her sleepy eyes, "Are we there?" she yawned.

Incendiare glared at her, "I have been walking all day, while you have been sleeping. I think I deserve to rest."

"Y...yeah, me too..." groaned Reize.

"I don't see any inns around... I don't really want to spend the night out here." Artemis sighed.

Legolas flew down, "I saw an inn just a little ways down the road. We could go there."

Artemis happily ran after Legolas. Incendiare grunted as she slowly followed, but both left Reize lying on the road.

"Hey... guys...urgh...help...?" he gasped before collapsing.

The inn was not what Artemis pictured or wanted to see. It was made of rotting wood and half of the entrance door was missing. No lights were seen from the inside so it was doubtful that anyone was inside at all. But that didn't seem to bother Legolas at all. He flew up to the door and knocked on the door.

Artemis then remembered the story she heard from the traveller

The door fell with a creak at the little cat's knock, "Anybody here?" he mewed happily.

"Uh... Legolas, I'm pretty sure no one is..." Artemis started to say, when she noticed a small fireball get lit in the distance. The lit came closer and closer. Even though the inn was old and creaky, no footsteps were heard. "What the!? Legolas let's get o...out of here... I'm okay with sleeping outside..."

"No, no," Legolas meowed casually, "It'll be rude to the innkeeper."

The fireball came closer and closer. Artemis' face started to get paler as it drew in. To her relief, it wasn't a ghost at all, but an elderly woman carrying a candle. Her back was hunched making her appear half Artemis' height.

"Yes? Who are you?" she rasped.

"Good evening, we're traveling to Xerxes and wanted a roof to sleep under for the night. Do you have any room?" Legolas meowed.

"Oh, travellers are you, of course you may. Come on inside."

Legolas pushed Artemis forward so she would follow the lady. The wind howled through the cracks of the building making it feel cool. However, Legolas seemed unaffected by any of it.

"A room for two?" asked the old lady.

"Three actually," smiled Legolas, "and a horse!"

"My, my, what a smart kitten you are," the lady tried to give Legolas a pat on the head, by the winged cat quickly avoided it and hid behind Artemis.

"I…I'm sorry, he doesn't like being pet on the head." Artemis stammered still nervous being inside the inn.

"Ohoho, didn't mean to frighten you little fella." She laughed as she led them inside their room. "Call me if you need anything. The bath is ready if you want to make yourself clean."

"Thanks!"

"Hey, you all right?"

Reize suddenly woke up to see a stranger right in front of him. Even after he was awake the man continued to poke him with a stick.

"Umm… what are you doing?"

"That's what I want to ask you," laughed the stranger, "It's not normal to take a nap in the middle of the road; in the middle of no where."

Reize straightened the black scarf around his neck, trying to remember what had happened. He suddenly started stomping his feet in rage, yelling and cursing, "They just left me…! How could they!?" I can't believe it…. Argh…!"

"You're much more short-tempered than you look…" laughed the stranger, but was quickly intimidated by Reize's frustrated glare.

Taking a deep breath Reize said, "Well, thanks for waking me up," and as soon as he finished saying that, he stomped down the road in anger.

"What, are you going that way, young man?" the stranger stopped Reize, "There's a rumour that there is a haunted inn there."

Reize stopped to think and vaguely remembered hearing something like that while motion sick in the carriage. "They must be there… hey, thanks for the warn…"

When Reize looked up to where the stranger was, no one was there. It was a straight path with nothing around to hide. A shiver ran down Reize's back, "C…can't be…right?" He quickly ran in the direction of the inn. "Be safe, Artemis…"

Incendiare looked up from her grazing at the sound of running footsteps, "Well, well Reize you finally decided to show up.

Breathing heavily Reize gasped, "where's A…Artemis?"

Before Incendiare answered he ran inside the inn. "If you know the answer, don't ask." Grunted the midnight horse and continued eating her dinner.

Reize sniffed the air to find Artemis' scent. He was a dragon slayer; dragon slayers' have a exceptionally good sense of smell. Artemis' scent led him into the bath house.

Without thinking Reize opened the door, "Are you okay, Arte…" It didn't take long for Reize to figure out what he did. He quickly ran out of the room, face bright red with embarrassment. When he looked ahead, Legolas sat across the hall with a big smirk on his face.

"Pervert!" Legolas chuckled.

"Th…that's not what… I… uh…" Reize stammered his face got brighter with every word.

"That's what they all say." Purred the orange cat, "By the way, I would run if I were you."

Before Reize could ask why, the door reopened behind him. Artemis, hair dripping wet and fully dressed, inserted an arrow in her bow.

"W…wait, Artemis, I…I can explain…!"

"You're the worst…" Artemis cried and released the arrow.

"Yeah, what if this was a haunted?" Artemis said, "Rumours aren't always true."

"I told you, I saw a ghost, a real ghost!" Reize was all bandaged up and only his eye and mouth were showing. Legolas was able to stop Artemis before she killed the dragon slayer.

"Why would I believe you? Can you prove it?"

"Well…" Reize mumbled when they heard a knocking sound.

Artemis got up to answer the door. But when she opened the door there only was a note. Written in blood were the words, "For the most thrilling evening of your life…"

As Artemis read the words, the clock chimed indicating that it was midnight. Dong, dong, it rang twelve times.

Artemis slowly started making her way back to Legolas and Reize, when an arm was held out in front of her. Wondering whose it was; Artemis looked at only to see it was sticking out of the wall. The arm swung up and down as if it wanted Artemis to play Rock, Paper and Scissors with it. Artemis obediently did.

"Rock, Paper… Scissors!" Artemis showed paper while the arm showed scissors.

"You Lose!" a voice rang and the ground beneath Artemis disappeared causing her to fall through the floor.

"Artemis!?" Reize and Legolas both yelled, but only Legolas ran towards her. Reize was too injured to move around. As soon as Legolas flew after Artemis down the hole, the lights, of the room Reize was left in, turned off.

"Umm… guys" Reize gulped helplessly, "Help…?"

Within the darkness Reize was able to hear a clopping sound, followed by the sound of falling water droplets, slowly closing in. The sound got louder and louder. When Reize thought the owner of the sound was right in front of him, the sound ceased and he couldn't smell another person or thing in the room. Lightning flashed in the background. From the light Reize saw someone sitting next to him.

"Umm… who are you?"

A hand was place delicately on Reize's own. The hand was drenched soaking through the bandages wrapped around Reize's arm. The hand felt up his arm, wet and cold like a hungry dog's tongue.

"May it be the most thrilling evening of you life, human…" a high pitched yet soft voice sang. Lightning stoke lighting up the room once again.

"Cy…Cyclops!" Screamed Reize, trying to back away but his injuries prevented him to move. Not only that, his body seemed to be sticking to the floor with gum-like slim.

"No…escape…" whispered the Cyclops.

"Ouch... what was that about?" Artemis grunted.

"Artemis, are you all right?" Legolas flew down into Artemis' arms.

A shiver ran down Artemis' back and she had the feeling someone else was watching. Looking around, she noticed the countless lifeless stares of the many dolls, sitting neatly against the wall on the floor and shelves. It was then too, when she noticed that there were no doors or windows in the small square room. The hole they dropped down from was closed.

"What's with this inn...?" Artemis hugged Legolas tighter.

But Legolas only answered with a chattering sound. Artemis took a closer look and realized it wasn't Legolas at all. Only another lifeless doll, this one looked almost identical to Legolas.

Artemis frantically let go of the cat doll. When the doll fell to the ground all the dolls in the room started chattering in unison. The endless sound surrounded Artemis.

"Legolas? Where did you go?" Artemis cried, holding her ears to drown out the chatters of the many dolls. "Legolas…" Artemis whimpered as her legs crumbled beneath her.

"Enjoying yourself, young lady?"

Artemis looked up to see the old innkeeper standing there. The lady was disproportionate to her surroundings. She had the biggest grin on her face, one that belonged to someone who accomplished a big deed.

"Well, that's enough." She mumbled and snapped her wrinkled fingers.

Instantly the doll filled room disappeared and Artemis was back in their room. Suddenly, Legolas leaped into her arms in tears. Reize sat knocked out and to Artemis' surprise, he wasn't bandaged up anymore.

"I was so worried…" Legolas snivelled, "You wouldn't respond when I called, or anything."

"What happened?" Artemis whispered.

"Sorry to scare you, dears," The old lady started, "That was all an illusion."

Seeing that Artemis didn't understand the innkeeper continued, "Around this time of year, our inn has a tradition of scaring the people who decide to stay. I have a kind mage in the next town, Xerxes, who comes and have him cast an illusion to frighten everyone. I don't know what you saw, but I'm very sorry to scare you that much."

"So… that was all just an… illusion?" Artemis gasped, "That mage must be very talented."

"It didn't seem to affect your kitty here, however." The innkeeper smiled.

Reize slowly woke up from his sleep, "W…what time is it?" he yawned.

Artemis couldn't help but laugh at the dragon slayer's oblivious reaction. She didn't know what caused him to get knocked out, but he seemed to have forgotten about it already.

"I don't think I want to stop at inns for a while…" sighed Artemis as they continued their journey to Alsius' hometown.

"Hey… something's not right…." groaned Reize.

"Yeah, you don't remember anything from last night do you?" Artemis hissed.

"No, no, not that. Alsius left only few minutes or maybe hours before us. We're travelling by horse which is much faster than foot. We should have caught to her a long time ago." He wheezed, stopping to make gagging sounds a few times.

Artemis never thought of that, "Weird, but oh well, we're here anyways…"

Incendiare suddenly stopped walking. "Are you sure this is where Xerxes is, Artemis?" she neighed.

Artemis looked out to see what was wrong. She couldn't believe what she saw.

Xerxes, Alsius' hometown, was destroyed.


End file.
